: : Yes, you're right. I was thinking nonviolent -- a woodsman felling a tree. But executioner does make more sense.

: Well, I am not sure about 'non-viloent', I expect not from the tree's point of view, nor even the birds or animals that may be living in it.

: That aside, another origin is perhaps the chopping off of a chook's head on the chopping block. (Sorry, 'chook' is a slang generic for 'chicken, hen, rooster' here in Australia, maybe not in your neck of the woods.)